The present invention generally relates to a device for fastening a strap around an object, and more particularly to a device for fastening a belt around the waist of a person.
A buckle is a fastener that attaches two strap ends together. Usually a buckle fastens together both ends of a strap designed to wrap around an object or objects. Straps that wrap around the waist are belts. Belt buckles, a class of buckles, fasten one end of a belt to its other end to form a loop that secures the belt around the waist of a person. The belt end opposite its buckle end is usually adjustably engageable with the buckle to form loops of various sizes.
Sam Browne belts, well known belts used by uniformed law enforcement officers, employ so-called center bar buckles with a rectangular frame, a center bar and two tongues each having one end fixed to the bar and extending substantially perpendicular to the bar. The bar pivots on the frame which supports the center bar for rotation about its axis such that the center bar and two tongues move in unison.
The Sam Browne belt includes a fastening member in the form of a bar permanently secured to one end of the belt strap with two hook-shaped prongs integrally formed at substantially right angles to each end of the bar. An opposite size adjustment end portion of a Sam Browne belt strap includes a top row and a bottom row of holes. Each hole on either row is aligned with a hole on the other row such that each pair of holes falls on a line substantially vertical to the length of the strap.
Unlike many other conventional belt buckles that are permanently attached to the belt, Sam Browne buckles are not permanently secured to the strap. Rather, Sam Browne buckles are removably assembled to the size adjustment end portion of the strap and may be adjusted in position along the strap to change the belt size. The buckle is adjusted in position by first threading the belt strap under one side of the frame and over the bar while maneuvering the prongs to go through a given pair of aligned holes in the strap, and finally passing the strap under the frame at its opposite side. Once mounted on the strap, the center bar of the buckle is positioned behind the concealed surface of the strap for engagement with the prongs of the fastening bar fixed to the other strap end to secure the belt in place.
Although the position of the Sam Browne buckle may be changed along the length of the strap, actual buckle adjustment is cumbersome because the straps of Sam Browne belts are made of thick belting leather that do not yield well, thus making such adjustments quite difficult. Because threading the belt strap through the buckle over its center bar is difficult, adjustability of the buckle on Sam Browne belts presents practical difficulties to users.
Once fastened, a loose end of the strap extends beyond the buckle and remains free. Having a loose end is undesirable. By pulling the loose end away from a person wearing the belt, the center bar readily disengages from the hooks of the underlying fastening bar. To secure a loose strap end, a button is usually incorporated in a Sam Browne belt with the button permanently mounted on the underlying strap behind its fastening bar to extend through a selected perforation in a row of holes provided on the size adjustment end portion between the top and bottom rows of tongue holes to capture the end of the belt strap.
Even with the addition of the button, conventional Sam Browne belts remain susceptible to accidental or forced release. Sam Browne belts normally support a variety of equipment including handguns. During a physical struggle, a conventional Sam Browne belt can be pulled loose, possibly with loss of access to a handgun.
Another longstanding and significant problem common to a conventional Sam Browne belt is that the manufacture and assembly of the fastening bar and the button onto the strap requires several steps which, if not carried out skillfully and precisely, may result in discarding the strap. These steps may include, but are not limited to: die cutting the strap, skiving the leather at an end of the strap opposite its size adjustment end, that is, shaving the leather to reduce its thickness so that it can be folded over the fastening bar. Then the strap must be sewed and/or glued to secure the fastening bar. This process is not only labor intensive, but care must be taken to ensure that the fastening bar and the button are precisely spaced apart to match the buckle center bar and the middle row holes in different buckle positions. Because of the multitude of steps and their requirements for precision, error is not uncommon in the manufacture and assembly of Sam Browne belts that result in undesired quantities of straps being scrapped during manufacturing.
An object of this invention is to provide an improved device having readily adjustable parts for fastening a strap around an object such that the strap can be fastened around objects of varying sizes with relative ease.
A further object of this invention is to provide such a device for use with making belts and providing improved resistance to unintended release or disengagement and easier size adjustability.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide an improved buckle device particularly suited for use with Sam Browne belts and which are relatively easy and economical to manufacture and assemble.
A yet further object of this invention is to provide a buckle device of the type described that does not require altering standard Sam Browne belt straps and thus avoids increase in manufacturing costs of such belt straps, such as re-tooling for custom manufacturing, while maintaining a desired garrison stylizing associated with conventional Sam Browne belts during use.
Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.
A belt incorporating this invention includes a movably adjustable buckle with fixed tongue means, a strap typically used in the making of Sam Browne belts and a fastening platform mounted on the strap to engage the fixed tongue means of the buckle.
The buckle of this invention comprises a frame and a pair of hook-shaped tongues fixed to a side of the frame. The tongues are C-shaped and extend inside the frame to pass through top and bottom perforations on a conventional Sam Browne belt strap, and a retainer is integrally formed on the back of the frame to allow the buckle to be guided and temporarily positioned on the strap during adjustment and to resist unintended release.
A fastening platform of this invention is mounted on a conventional Sam Browne belt strap end to engage a buckle on an opposite size adjustment end of the strap for fastening the strap. A preferred embodiment of the platform includes a back plate having two apertures to engage a pair of fixed tongues of a buckle, and a third aperture for optional placement of a button.